Sword Art Online: Bonds Unbroken
by Mr-Watch
Summary: Although you may fall, be beaten, bruised, and disheartened, your friends will always be there to pull you back on your feet...And carry you to the end if need be...
1. Episode 1

**Sword Art Online: Bonds Unbroken**

**Episode #1: Problems**

[April 6th 2023 – Floor #22]

I never really knew why I had taken a liking to sleeping under these trees. Somehow it made me feel just a little more at home after all that had happened over the past few months. I always used to sleep under the great big tree in my backyard when I was…_awake_…Although, perhaps it wasn't just the tree, but the sleep as well that made me feel like I was back home again. Maybe it was both? Sleeping for me was one of those actions that kept me drifting back to what my mother, father, brother, and sister might be going through. It's what kept me thinking back to them, keeping me from losing myself to this place. Somehow, back when I wasn't hooked up to this machine, I'd always dream of some sort of fantasy like the one I was strangely living at this point. Back then I wanted to go on adventures and see new and exciting things…But now after these past months, sleep was what put me back home. Instead of being on some grand adventure, I dreamt of being back home…Back in the_ real_ world…

Leaning up a little closer to the tree I had picked out, I couldn't help but feel like I had gone over these same facts time and time again in my head. Yet, no matter how many times I tried, everything never seemed to make any more or less sense…I should've listened to my mother. She always told me that playing video games so much would hurt me later in life. Although, I didn't think she meant that one of them would have the possibility of killing me either…Over the past few months the game Sword Art Online had taken the term living a fantasy to a whole new meaning for 10,000 of us. Sadly, more than 2,000 of us had the misfortune of having this adventure, if I could call it that, cut short…At least I wasn't one of the poor sobs that had my NerveGear removed on the first day. They never even got a chance.

Either way, I was thankful that I had made it this far. Over five months in and I was fairing pretty well. Yeah sure, I wasn't Front Line status, but I did like to think I was a cut above the rest. Hell, maybe I could be one of those people up front fighting those bosses if I really tired. My level was on par with theirs, maybe just a tiny sliver lower. But I preferred keeping my brain intact. Duking it out with the rest of the Front Line people only meant a shorter lifespan, at least in my mind. If helping out in other ways was what I had to do, it was fine by me…That's why I liked hanging back a few floors. Keeping other player's heads in one piece was a pastime that I was slowly taking a liking too…Even though now, I realize how twisted that might sound…

A small splash of water drew me from me sleep induced nostalgia. Snapping my eyes open I gazed through the near fence like view of the trees in front of me to catch a glimpse of a fisherman, a player just like me throwing a line out into the water. Obviously this guy was working on his fishing skill. The way he stood gave it all away. He didn't even bother to sit down. His legs fidgeted like he had a bug up his pants.

I shuffled my back up a few more inches against the tree I was sitting against. There was no use trying to catch a wink now. The sparkle of the brilliant blue lake ahead of me and that player had my mind firing on all cylinders. I had forgotten that sleeping out in the wild like this, away from any town, did hold its risks. Other players might not have been so forgiving…Thankfully though Floor #22 was someplace where that risk was slim to nil. The great coniferous forest, vast lakes, and mountains made it a haven for players who were less combat inclined. All those resources really made it a fabulous place for crafters of all sorts to get some decent materials. Heck, even monsters were rare on this floor. No wonder it had been cleared in record time.

Still, I watched that fisherman for a good deal of time. His line would go out, come back in, go out, and come back in, almost like it was some odd metronome. Awkwardly, it was kind of relaxing to watch. It made me feel normal again…Back home I enjoyed fishing with my dad…He didn't seem to notice I was tucked away in the trees behind him. I was glad for that. I didn't feel like talking to anyone today. I kind of viewed it as a day off from the constant grind of creature slaying and player helping…That nap would've been _really _nice though…

Lazily I lifted my hand, placing my index finger and thumb together and with a swift swipe downward my menu flickered to life in front of my face. Flipping through numerous screens like I had done many times before, I looked over my own inventory and skills. Nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was right where it should have been. Just like yesterday, the day before that, and so on. That was sort of a bad habit of mine. Almost every day I'd go back as see if the "Log Out" option somehow magically returned. It never did. Obviously, this many days in I knew it wouldn't. But the habit had taken over.

I felt the familiar tingle of hunger in my stomach. In my effort to get out here this far on Floor #22 I had forgotten to eat breakfast. Like a switch that had been flipped in my head I easily guided my hand to sort through the menu screens in front of me, heading toward my inventory. With the quick tap of a few buttons, a luscious apple materialized into my hand…I wish getting food was this easy in real life. A few taps of buttons and I could myself a warm meal…But one thing about Sword Art Online, nearly every single piece of fruit looked damn near prefect. This apple had no bruises, brown spot, nothing. Prefect.

Settling myself back against the tree once more, I couldn't help but slouch down. The apple I started biting into was too damn good, made me feel like I was on some sort of high. Greedily munching on my fruit I started to flick through my menu screens once more. That fisherman was not exactly the most entertaining thing to watch anymore. Poor guy still had yet to snag anything.

"Tanner." That was the name that stuck to the upper left hand corner of my menus. My name. I had nearly forgotten it was there. Just a plain reminder of who I _still _was and who I _really _was.

A faint high-pitched beep sound filled my ears. It sort of gave me a jump, making me shuffle a little where I slouched. That sound came from my menu. Someone wanted to get ahold of me. Quickly I began to flick through the screens once more, still slowly chopping on my apple as I held it with my free hand. Whatever this was must've been important. I wasn't expecting anyone today. In fact, I did sort of want to keep away from people for a few hours. This little spot on this Floor #22, combine with the weather made it too perfect to give up easily. Not to mention that I was feeling utterly lazy today. Peace like this was sometimes difficult to come by…Ah, here we go…Messaging…There was a little blinking dot next to a name that was still stuck up in my message query.

"Kaya." I chuckled silently, reading the name aloud. Perhaps I was a little amused, but not surprised that she would send me a message on a day like today. "What are you up to?" I happily mumbled again to myself, this time with a mouthful of apple in my teeth…I pressed the little blinking icon to read the message she had sent me…

"Tanner!" The text message began. It was quite lengthy by the looks of it. Kaya must've taken some time writing this 'book.' "What are y-."

…And then my eardrums nearly exploded…

"TANNER!" A loud, energetic, and cheerful voice rang out directly into my ear. Hot damn it was loud as all hell. Thankfully, I don't think the game aloud my eardrums to burst, which they just might have if this was the real world. The apple went flying out of my mouth. Damn, it was a good apple too.

As if I was being attacked, my body lurched to its feet. Scrambling on all fours I tried to distance myself from the voice that had taken me by surprise. I sort of felt like a cat or dog attempting to run away from a small child on a wooden floor. My feet were moving, but my body wasn't going anywhere fast...Nothing…In those odd moments of shock the top of my body fell forward into the dirt. I got a mouthful of grass and rocks…Gosh, I probably look _really_ stupid right about now…

"Tee-Hee, Come on, Tanner!" The voice giggled, still having that same cheerful tone. A swift little patter of footsteps moved closer to me. "Stop messing around!"

Still with my face in the grass, I shifted my head. I couldn't help breathe a little sigh of relief. This was no PKer that stood bouncing up and down beside me.

In front of me stood a small girl dressed in red clothing, hands folded politely behind her back. She was bouncing with a mass of pent up energy, her feet rolling back and forth from her toes to her heels. Looking further upward I was greeted by a set of beaming green eyes and a head of vibrant red hair tied into long braided pigtails that went down passed her shoulders. And how could I forget all those freckles. Yup, I knew who this was.

"Pah!" I spat a mouthful of foul grass back onto the ground. "G-Good morning, Kaya!" I muttered again, trying to sound as friendly as possible after looking so embarrassing. Kaya was a close friend of mine, a good and friendly girl, if not having a bit too much energy for her own good. She was a younger player I had been helping from day one of this fiasco. Despite her age and rather low maturity level, Kaya was actually on par with me in terms of level. After those first few weeks she kept up to me pretty well…To be honest, we seemed to run into one another in an abnormal amount. Whether that was by design or luck, either of us had yet to find out. But Kaya was a friend. There was no denying that.

"Gooooooood Morning!" Kaya sang happily. Her eyes followed me as I stood up, watching me brush the dust off my armor. Acting as polite and innocent as she could Kaya swayed her body from left to right. The brilliant smile on her face showed no signs of fading away. Kaya's little feet took a few steps closer. "About time you stood up, Lazy-Bones! Ha-ha!"

Boy, did Kaya have her ways to torment me…

I felt some grass still stuck to the side of my forehead. The little green blades were brushed away with a wipe of my hand. "Yeah-Yeah." I replied with a grin. Honestly, how could you not smile with Kaya around? Many times, I watched that smile cheer up a number of other players who were down on their luck. She had done it for me plenty of times as well! Finally calming my nerves I was able to speak again. "You damn near scared the pants off me just now, Kaya."

Kaya's brow became wrinkled in a mocking manner. Her arms unlock from one another and snapped to her waist. "Well, maybe you should pay attention more, Mister! I sent you a message, didn't I?"

It was like I was being scolded by my little sister again. The grin on my face grew a little wider. "Heh! Yes, about _three seconds_ before you nearly blasted out my ear drum!" I couldn't help but give me ear a little rub to reinforce my point.

That wrinkle on her brow became fiercer, but her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. Yeah, she knew I was right. Lifting a hand from her waist she prodded me in the stomach with an outstretched index finger. Thank god she wasn't taller. At least I still had a few good years on her before she would be even close to my height…Her green eyes playfully glared up at me as she spoke again. "B-But…W-W-Well, I uh…"

I just stood there smugly looking back at her, pretty amused myself that she was attempting to salvage some sort of way to win this. That grin on my face grew even bigger. I wasn't even angry about that wasted apple anymore.

"T-Tanner, y-you see…" Kaya was coming up with nothing. Her face flashed red and her high-pitched voice inadvertently admitted defeat. "You're such a big jerk, you know that?! Y-You're a-a big old Jerky-Mc-Jerky-Jerk!"

Obviously, I knew she didn't really meaning such words. That's just how she was. Kaya always needed to be the winner of an argument, no matter how one-sided it might seem…I waved my hand off to the side, showing my carelessness. In an effort to save time, as well as my hearing, I chose not to pursue Kaya's defeat. I might hold it over her head for a while, but today was my day to relax. Getting into a friendly shouting match with the little red-head was low on my list of things to do…Instead I picked an easier path. "What brings you all the way out here, Kaya? Floor #22 isn't exactly high up on difficulty, even for us. So, I can guess you didn't come here to fight any monsters."

Kaya leaned back, finally stopping her assault on my stomach. She blinked a few times. It was nearly as if she wasn't even expecting me to ask that sort of thing. Her head cranked up to look at mine as she began speaking. "Er, since you said you weren't busy today…I…Uhm…" One of her hands went toward the back of her head, giving it a little rub of nervousness.

She put it so strangely. I _was _busy, in my own special way. Getting a nap could be viewed as hard work…To me at least…

"…I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?" Kaya finally managed as another beaming smile crawled across her lips. "I, er, don't have much to do anymore. You're always much more fun than hanging out with other players my age! They never want to do anything fun!"

Mid-chuckle I let out a yawn, covering my hand with my mouth. That nap seemed so close just a few minutes ago…Still, Kaya's offer did perk my interest just enough for me to ask. "What was it you had in mind? This is kind of unexpected." I replied slowly, wiping a yawn-induced tear from my eye.

Almost instantaneously Kaya's eyes darted to the ground. She began to press her index fingers together as if to say she didn't wish to say why she needed me.

It was pretty clear to me, even if she didn't say it…

"You see, Tanner…I…"

"Hmm?" I purred with a smirk. Kaya always had her own ways of saying things.

"…I found out that my g-." She paused for a second to rethink what she wanted to say. "Actually, I left my guild…" Kaya's eyes darted away, looking quite ashamed of herself.

My smirk faded. Something told me that Kaya's short explanation wasn't the full story. The way she was stumbling over her words made it pretty clear that she was hiding something from me. As a friend I wanted to know, but on the other hand, as a friend it probably was best not to push the issue very far. I knew that she had joined a guild a few weeks ago. Yet, I never really got any information besides that…I lifted my arms above my head again, giving them another stretch to get out the morning stiffness. "Oh?" I mumbled lightly, glancing at her with a look that told her I knew something was up.

She picked it up right away, but didn't take the bait and tell me. "Y-Yeah…" She was still pressing her fingers together childishly. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me today. Maybe we could go down a few floors and fight some lower-level creatures…Most of the monsters out there are pretty easy, especially so for the two of us. As long as we stay out of the dangerous areas it should be pretty easy for us to rim our pockets with a little extra money...Er...I, Uhm, need Col kind of quickly, if that's ok? I'm sort of running low on cash."

That last bit perked my interest. Why on earth would Kaya want money so badly? On top of that, why would she need me along? It'd be pretty simple to go onto the lowest Floors and grind monsters for cash at her level. With her and I combine it'd be sort of overkill. Was this something that dealt with her old guild? Then again, safety in numbers was something I always remind myself. I wouldn't be able to stand myself if something happened to her if I said no to this offer…Right, that settles it then. I'll find out what's up sooner or later. "I don't see why not! I guess after leaving a guild you might be short a couple friends." I chuckled jokingly, not wanting her to catch on to my suspicions. "I'm sorry to hear about your guild though."

Kaya's eyes lit up a little more at my words. "T-Thank you, Tanner. I always knew I could count on you for keeping me company."

There was no doubt in my mind that Kaya was keeping something from me. I've been saving up money ever since day one on this game. In fact, I was still saving. For Kaya to be dangerously low on Col after running semi-constantly together, it was just another drop in my cup of suspicion. "Heh, I see." I mumbled again, taking a few steps toward my friend. I gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Well, if you want to get that Col we probably should be off. It's a decent walk back to town. And I'd rather be able to rent a room for the night once we get to the lower floors. Lord only knows I could sleep in a bed once and a while. Ha!"

"R-Right, Tanner!" Kaya said again, this time with a little bit of a jump of either excitement or nervousness. I couldn't exactly tell which. But even so, Kaya was still able to put on that cheerful, beaming, and quite contagious smile she always did. "L-Let's get moving then!"

As we began to walk away, I couldn't help feel that something about Kaya's old guild and her cash situation were somehow one and the same. It was one of those feelings I could shake from the back of my head no matter how hard I wanted to…I'll find out soon enough…

* * *

**A/N:**

**Well, here you have it, Episode #1 of my new Sword Art Online original story Bonds Unbroken!**

_***Cue SAO opening music***_

**As you might have guessed, Bonds Unbroken is a going to be a rather heavy Original Character driven story. At first, I wanted to take the main characters and use them, but in order to get the feelings I wanted for this story, I needed characters made from scratch. Thus, we've met the first two characters, little Kaya and our leading man, Tanner! This story is going to follow them, as well as many others, through their lives in Sword Art Online. In fact, I plan to have quite a cast of Original Characters within this story as it moves along!**

**But, more important now is what I'm going for with this story. Obviously, the bonds between our characters are going to play a rather large role in the fiction. (Hints the title). As you might be able to tell, Tanner and Kaya have known each other for quite some time. You might be able to view them as a big-brother / little-sister sort of duo…In addition, there will be many more people coming and going as the story goes along that influence Tanner and his thoughts. (The main reason for me doing it in first person)…Secondly, I've wanted this story to have a little bit of everything: action, friendship, adventure, and yes, even some steamy (or not) romance. The feelings in this story are really going to be its lifeblood; at least, that's what I'm hoping for…So, don't be afraid if there are some sections that are rather dark, creepy, or simply kind of awkward or weird. **

**I know this story might have come a little unexpected from my readers that have come here from some of my different stories. In fact, it came to me as a surprise as well! It's my first story written in first person. So, I know it's probably not perfect, but I do hope to improve as time goes on! On a different note, I began this story to get myself back into the grove of writing. I wanted to do something fun for myself. (Not saying my other stories aren't). But, I wanted to try something new and exciting for me to get me back in the game after a rather long lull in my own writing schedule.**

**While I won't go off on everything now, I do hope that a lot of you enjoyed this first chapter! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Also, if you ever want to ask me anything, feel free to send me a PM! I love meeting and talking to new people!**

**Thanks,**

_**Mr-Watch**_


	2. Episode 2

**Sword Art Online: Bonds Unbroken**

**Episode #2: The Little Things**

[April 6th 2023 – Floor #22]

Kaya was always the one to get me to smile. No matter how horrible my day went, whenever I ran into her my day always seemed to brighten up. I'm not sure whether it was the way she talked, walked, or made those silly little faces she always did, Kaya felt like the other little sister I never had. She always was around to either keep me company when I needed it the most. Today was no different, except for the fact that my day was actually going quite well already…Not that I was complaining or anything…

Skipping playfully a few meters ahead of me, I watched Kaya bound across the raised wooden pathways that led all across Floor #22. This floor was littered with these walkways and all of them stretched out from the main settlement of the floor, Coral. They led to main areas such as the mountains, lakes, plains, and forest, pretty much anywhere anyone needed to go on this mostly peaceful area. I had to admit, Floor #22 was so far my favorite. It just had that feeling I liked, probably because the landscape reminded me of where I had grown up. In addition, the lack of people trying to wake me up from my ever so frequent naps didn't hurt either!

The little girl with red pigtails skipped to a halt a few paces ahead of me. I could hear her boots slide across the tiny gaps in between the wood paneling. Clearly, something was on her mind to make her stop so fast.

"Tanner!" Kaya called out, finally turning toward me. I'm pretty sure the freckles on her face were multiplying. Her words were long and drawn out, a childish groan. Those beaming green eyes of hers locked onto mine as she pressed both her hands against her stomach.

It didn't take long for me to catch up. Soon I was standing right beside her on the raised pathway. "What's up, Kaya?" I asked somewhat eagerly and with a grin, folding my arms across my chest, my head tilting downward to meet her child-like gaze. "Something the matter?"

She fidgeted a little bit, her hands still pressing against her gut. Her eyes looked away shamefully and quite embarrassed. "Y-You wouldn't happen to have brought any food along with you today, would you?" Her body twisted from side to side as the tingling sensation of hunger kicked in for the little girl.

A faint sound of Kaya's gut rumbling made me suppress a small chuckle. I had to cover my mouth in an effort not to let her notice. I couldn't believe that she came all the way out here and forgotten to bring something to eat.

Kaya noticed. "Tanner, this isn't funny! I'm really-really-really hungry right now. I haven't eaten since last night!" She said with a wrinkled and kind of angry face. Her body wiggled from side to side uncomfortably.

"I know, I know…Let me check. I'm sure I have something we can share, Kaya. It's about lunchtime after all." I replied after finally keeping my laughter in check. Quickly I opened up my menu and began to shuffle through the panels and buttons towards my inventory. Finally, a label out of my lengthy list of food grabbed my attention, and with a swift press of a button a small wooden basket materialized into my hands.

Even just seeing the basket made Kaya's eyes light up. Instantly her hands shot away from her gut, giving a small clap of delight.

"Are sandwiches alright with you, Kaya?" I purred, unable to hide the fact that I was quite delighted to be eating as well…My stomach was missing that apple right about now…

"Oh-Oh-Oh, yes, Tanner!" Kaya giggled with glee. A sparkling smile ran across her face…She wasted no time in walking over to the side of the raised wooden walkway, taking a seat, and putting her legs out over the edge. The pathway was on the border of a bright blue lake, as Kaya's feet dangled about a foot above the water line…Patting the wood beside her, she eagerly motioned for me to sit down beside her.

Quickly obliging, I plopped myself down on the side of the wooden pathway, letting my feet rest in the air only inches away from the water's surface. It had been some time since we had started walking back to town, so having a little break was an idea my legs agreed with…Leaving enough room between Kaya and me, I placed the basket of sandwiches in the middle, and opened up the top.

If Kaya's face could light up anymore, she might get mistaken for a Christmas tree. Immediately her hand dove into the basket. She didn't even bother to ask for permission, not that she needed some anyway. And not seconds later, Kaya's hand remerged with a sandwich in hand. "You always make the best sandwiches, Tanner!" She giggled just before her mouth took a chomp out of the piece of food I had created.

"Heh, well thank you!" I said in return as I reached into the basket in search for a sandwich of my own. It was always nice to hear my work being liked…but having a rather high cooking skill didn't hurt either…

"So…" Kaya began with a mouth full of food. Her words were muffled as she chewed. "…What've you been up to these past couple of days?! I hadn't seen you around much on the upper Floors. Still going out with all of those random people you find?"

Taking my time, I gave my body a chance to swallow before I attempted a response. "Yeah, I guess…" I started with a shrug. Kaya was right, while I was no solo player, I didn't exactly have a set group of people I partied with. The little girl beside me was the person I partied with the most out of anyone. "…There are a lot of people like me who don't run in parties with their friends or guilds. So, I usually find them when going out…"

Kaya replied with an accepting nod as she looked in my direction, her mouth too full to utter a single word.

"…But, I guess I've been doing what I've been doing the last time you asked me." A sly smirk crossed my face. I knew Kaya had a rather bad memory, might as well use that for my benefit.

"Which is?" She replied, blinking and looking very confused.

"Nothing!" What I said was of course a lie. Aside from today, I was rapidly keeping myself busy in gathering and saving Col. Pretty much anything that could be picked up and sold to a player or NPC while out of town I would grab. I wasn't one for hording items; instead I gathered and sold like it was going out of style. One might I was sitting on a rather large amount of money at this point.

Kaya blinked again, this time looking at me rather harshly. Even she knew I was a liar. I was horrible at lying. "You're such a jerk, Tanner!" She groaned once more, taking a final bite out of the piece of food I had given her. "You never let me in on anything you're doing!"

All I could do was laugh. At least she wasn't trying to pry into what I was doing. I didn't want her in on my little saving's spree, not yet at least. "Well, maybe you'll find out soon enough!" I stated, I too finishing my sandwich with a triumphant bite! That statement did have some truth for it. Hopefully, once I had gathered enough money, I'd let her in on my plans. Now that she wasn't in a guild anymore, she'd most likely be a part of them this she was willing.

Looking over lake, Kaya took up another direction of conversation. Clearly she didn't want to keep talking about money. "Have you noticed anything different?" Her new topic gave her a boost in vigor, her mood swiftly returning normal.

"Different?" Having no clue what she meant, I sat there with a rather dumb look on my face.

"Yes!" Kaya giggled, giving me a fast jab in the shoulder with her tiny fist. "I got new armor, what do you think?! I'm surprised you hadn't noticed already, Tanner! You're so slow!"

My eyes darted toward her body. Yes, she had picked up new pieces of armor since last we met. It looked rather expensive to put it lightly. Colored green with golden trim, her light-weight cloth-type armor was easily described as a combination of a large sleeveless jacket and undershirt, a skirt, and long boots that came up to her knees. By looks, it did fit her fighting style very well…Kaya favored the rapier, a fast attacking weapon that required the wielder to be fast and mobile. All of that fit her personality to the letter as well. Not only in combat could she run circles around me, but even in regular clothing did Kaya seem inhumanly quick…That is to say, my style of battle was very different from hers…

"It looks nice, definitely fits you that's for sure!" I laughed happily with a smile. "Did you get it up front?"

"A floor behind the Front Lines!" Kaya chirped, almost bouncing where she sat. "It's super comfortable and is really good for rapiers!" Her eyes darted back to me with an analyzing curiosity. "What about you? Have you gone up near the Front and snagged anything good?!"

Nodding, I looked down at myself as she soon did the same. My armor was that of the heavy-class. While I never work anything overly bulky for the sake of movement, having the ability to take a hit was something I was working on. In MMO terms, I was considered a 'Tank' and while my body type wasn't exactly the most built and stereotypical for such a job, such things didn't matter in Sword Art Online. "This armor I have works quite well for me." I said finally, nodding to myself once again.

Soon my eyes wandered toward the water in front of me. Like a mirror it reflected the features of not only my armor, but my entire body was well…Never being one for body-building, I couldn't say that I was that large of a guy. Sure, I was regular height and had a fair amount of definition to my body, but I wasn't exactly the most muscular beef-head out there…That's not to say I didn't find myself good looking…I just didn't know if anyone else thought that…_Probably not_…

Kaya shuffled a bit where she sat. "What about weapons? Still working with that spear and shield that I saw you with last time? I know they were good and all, I just don't know if you got anything new!"

I gave a simple nod in reply. I still had my same spear and shield as before. They were still as good as anything I could find near the Front Lines.

"Oooh."

"Yup…" I looked back to her; something was still weighing heavy on my mind since she had woken me up in the forest a few hours before. Perhaps was now the better time to ask. "…Hey, Kaya?"

"Yeah, Tanner?"

"What happened between you and your guild?" I asked rather bluntly. Being blunt with Kaya was sometimes the only way to get an answer out of her.

Immediately her expression changed and her face flushed red, red enough o nearly hide all of her freckles. "W-Why d-d-do you ask?" Kaya's head began to look up and down the path as if people would seemingly spring out of the trees and attack at such a question.

I narrowed my eyes, giving her a look of knowing something amiss. "Come on, Kaya…" I sighed as friendly as I could, mustering a warm brotherly grin. "…We're friends right? We can talk to each other about this kind of stuff. Come on, tell me what happened. It doesn't take much to know that you're trying to hide it. You're terrible at hiding things, Kaya."

Kaya knew she had been beaten without even having the chance to raise a defense. She hunched over, elbows dropping onto her knees, and chin going into her palms. That same pouty face I remembered so well took over as she looked out over the water. "Promise if I tell you that it stays between us!"

"Ha! Who else would I even-?" I was cut off even before I could finish.

"Tanner, Promise!"

I had to back my face up a little to keep Kaya from head-butting me. Raising my hands in defense this reaction out of her was truly abnormal. "Y-Yeah, of course, Kaya. I promise!"

Turning her body again, Kaya once more slouched over onto her arms. The words that soon followed were disheartened and sad. "It turns out that guild only wanted me for my money!"

"Say what?!"

"They…They asked me to join because they found out I had a lot of money on me." Kaya began, her head lowering on her shoulders once she started to recall all of the events. "At first I thought they were good people, they asked me to donate most of my money toward a guild home for us…"

I gave a little nod to let her know I was still paying attention.

"…but after I did, they kind of just stopped talking with me. I didn't hear from them at all." Kaya's face began to turn from that of shame to sadness. Twiddling her thumbs around one another, her mouth perked off to one side. "And when I did run into them, they kicked me out saying that I wasn't the right kind of person they wanted. They left me with nothing…I kind of gave them almost all of my money for that guild house. I know it was really-really stupid of me to give them all that money, but I really wanted some place to stay instead of the inns. I wanted my own bed, Tanner. Is that too much to ask for?"

I too began to slouch down in an effort to come to her level. I couldn't help feeling just a little sorry for Kaya. Yes, while that might not have been one of her smartest moves, her heart was surely in the right place. Even I had to agree that owning your own bed to rest in was worth the saved money. The only problem for her was that her opportunity for such a thing was a scam from the start…Lifting my arm, I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No, no you're right. Owning a bed does sound really nice doesn't it?" I attempted to keep my words as comforting as possible.

Turning her face toward me, I could see that Kaya's bottom lip shake ever-so slightly. It must've been a fair chunk of change to get her all worked up like this…Soon a thought crossed my head. I couldn't help but ask the question that shot into my mind once I began to put the pieces of this puzzle together…My back straightened up a bit before I spoke. "Kaya?"

"Y-Yes, Tanner?"

"How much money do you have left?" I asked softly…The question nearly made Kaya break down. I watched that once beaming freckled face almost burst into tears…

"…35 Col…"

_...Not even enough to rent a room at the inn for a night…_

* * *

**A/N:**

**So here is Episode #2, I hope you liked it as much as I did writing it! So far this story has been a lot of fun for me, definitely a change up from all my other things!**

**I also hope that you're getting to know the first two main characters pretty well! Kaya and Tanner are two of three main characters in the story. Who is the next one? Stay tuned to find out!**

**Anyway, I'm going to keep this A/N short in an effort to start up another chapter on my Fire Emblem story. So I won't waste anymore of your time.**

**Please-please-please leave a review and tell me what you think! I love hearing if people like my stories! Also, if you need to, feel free to shoot me over a PM if you have any questions!**

**Thanks,**

**Mr-Watch.**


End file.
